SusVoicingsLessonSupplementwww.pianogroove.com

SusChordsIntroduction• ‘Sus’isshorthandfor‘suspended’anditreferstothe4thwhichissaidtobe

‘suspended’inthechord.• Thesimplestwaytodemonstratethisistoplayamajortriadandraisethe3rd

tothe4th.VoicingSusChordswith2Hands• Theeasiestwaytovoiceasuschordover2handsistoplaytherootinyour

lefthandandplayamajortriadbuiltfromtheb7.Youcouldalsolookatthisasamajortriadawholestepbelowtheroot:

• ThisgivesyouR,7,9,11,whichisaC9suschordasthe9thisthehighest

extensioninthechord.• Wecanplaythetriadinanyofits3inversions.Justlikeupperstructure

triads,thetriadontopwillsoundstrongestinitssecondinversion.Wecanalsoaddnotesinourlefthandanddoublenotesinourrighthandtogetabiggervoicing:

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ApplicationofBasicSusVoicingto‘OverTheRainbow’• WhenyoucomeacrossaSuschordinaleadsheet,playtherootofthechord

andthenamajortriadofftheb7andyoushouldbeabletofindaninversionofthetriadthatfitsthemelody.Trythisinbar3of‘OverTheRainbow’:

• ThechordsymbolisBb9sussotheformulaisamajortriadawholestepbelowtheroot.ThisisanAbmajortriadoverBbinthebass.A2ndinversionAbmajortriadwillyieldContopofthevoicingtokeepthemelodyintact.

• Alsoaddthe5thandb7intheleftforabiggersoundasinpreviousexamples.ExtendingUpwardstoCreatea13susChord.• Wecanextendthetriadinourrighthandintoamajor7thchordtoachievea

brighter,morecolourfulvoicingcontainingtheR,b7,9,11and13.

• Tocreatea13suschord,webuildamajor7thchordawholestepbelowtherootorofftheb7.thiswouldbeanFmaj7.Thereare4inversionsofthemajor7thchordontopwithgivesyouthedifferentvoicingoptionsabove.

• Suschordsarealsoveryusefulwhentherootisinthemelodyforadominantchord.Toplaytherootinthemelodyweextendthe13suschordupanother3rd.PlaytheRootandb7inyourlefthandandthenaminor7thchordoffthe9.Seethefollowing3examplesforG13sus,C13sus&F13sus:

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• TheseriesofchromaticallydescendingdominantchordsinthelastfourbarsofthebridgeofRoundMidnightareagoodexampletodemonstratesus13chordswiththerootinthemelody.

SusChordsinContextofa251Progression• Lookingatthe251progressionsbelow,wecanseethatinthesecond

example,whenwemovetoG13sus,wekeepthe3rd,5thand7thand9thofthe2chord(D-7)andallthatwedoischangethebasstoG.

• Thisillustratesaninterestingwaytolookatsuschords.Asuschordisineffect,ahalfwaypointbetweenthe2and5chord.Thesuschordhassomeofthetensionandsenseofmovementasthe5chordbutnotasdissonantduetotheabsenceofthetritone.

• Thisnowbringsusontoresolvingthesuspension.Inany251progression,wecanplayasuschordafterthe2chordandthenresolvethesuspensiontomovetothe5chord.Seeexampleontherightabove.

• Wecanalsoaddalterationstothe5chordeg.D-7–G13sus–G7b9–Cmaj13.

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• Nowlet’saddtwoalterationsbyplayingD-7–G13sus–G7b9#5–Cmaj13.

• AnothervariationwouldbeD-7–G13sus–G7#9#5–Cmaj13.

• Usingourknowledgeoftritones,wecanalsosubstitutethe5chord.G&Db

areatritoneapartsowecanplayaDb13#11aftertheG13susandthenresolvedowntothe1chord.

• Transposetheabovechordsintoafewdifferentkeys.Firsttry251sinF&Gandthenmoveonto‘blackkeys’suchasEb-andAb-

• Saythechordsaloudwhenyouplaythemtodevelopamentalassociation

withtheshape,lookandfeelofthesesuspendedvoicings.